Deconstructing Comics is a podcast about, and love letter to, the comics medium.
The show began in December 2005 as three guys, sitting in a room, talking comics. Since then it has evolved so that every week is something different, often with someone different. The content is varied and consistently interesting, and sometimes deep, discussing not only the comics we read, but how comics work. Deconstructing Comics takes an international view of the medium, looking at Wednesday’s stack alongside newspaper strips, undergrounds, Web comics, manga, European comics, and more. One iTunes reviewer wrote “This podcast offers true, critical reviews of comics with surprisingly intelligent insight (surprising because I wasn’t expecting such depth from a podcast)…”
Show content includes comics creator interviews (of both the famous and the not-yet-famous); reviews of floppy comics, Web comics, and graphic novels (including manga); comics-related topic discussions; and (occasionally) just sitting down with the recorder to talk comics and see what develops.
All of us involved with this podcast have written and/or drawn our own comics, so we understand what up-and-coming creators are going through and what issues you might need some pointers with. If you’d like a critique of your comic, send it to us (or send us the link), and we’ll review it on the show.
Contributors
Tim Young is a longtime comics fan and sometime creator. He is the creator of the unfinished Web comic The Crazing Spider-Hag, writer of the English-study comic Machigai Manga, and has published two English study books in Japan. He is producer and host of the show, introducing interviews/reviews that he or the other contributors have done. In addition to Deconstructing Comics, his other podcasts include The Law of Equivalent Exchange, Machigai Podcast, and To the Batpoles.
@deconcomics
Kumar Sivasubramanian has translated over 100 volumes of manga into English for Dark Horse, Fanfare, DMP, Vertical, Blaft, Seven Seas, Udon, and Yen Press, plus various J-Dramas and anime for Netflix and other streaming services. He is also an English Language Consultant for Sunrise Inc. (the “Gundam” animation people), the one-time writer of the serialized comic Full Throttle in Dark Horse Presents, co-host of the podcast Comic Book Movie Oblivion, a former Japan Correspondent for Wizard Magazine and Anime Insider, and writer of Weird Crime Theater.
@kumarprime
Emmet O’Cuana is a freelance critic and writer, and host of the Hopscotch Friday podcast. His writing has featured in 100% Biodegradable, Meanwhile…, Proximity, Decay Magazine, Sequart and Aurealis. He wrote the first issue of Dan Gilmore’s barbarian fantasy comic Kunghur and contributed to Darragh Greene and Kate Roddy’s Grant Morrison and the Superhero Renaissance.
Koom Kankesan has had an enduring love of comics ever since he set eyes on them! He has written film and book reviews, scripts, cultural commentary, interviews, arts journalism, and fiction. His published books are The Panic Button, The Rajapaksa Stories, and The Tamil Dream. When conducting interviews for Deconstructing Comics Podcast, he favors a more conversational free-flowing approach where he can pick the brains (but not the noses!) of those he speaks to.
Dana Nielsen lives and works in Japan far from his beloved hometown comics shop in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Growing up, he was always jealous of his friends’ dedication to one superhero title or another but just couldn’t find HIS book. He tried Armor, Blue Beetle, and even Wolverine for a time. Now he is content to binge on graphic novels every summer when he goes back to visit his hometown comics shop.
@dmn668
Mulele Jarvis is an artist and writer. His most recent works are Elbis and the Orphan Daughter of Time, The Mindgator, and Night Mystery. Mulele has retired from podcasting, but you’ll still find many of his episodes in our archives. His site is mulele.com.
@muleleredux
John Linton Roberson is the creator of Lulu, Vladrushka, Suzy Spreadwell, the play Suspension of Disbelief, and numerous other works in comics, script and prose. Visit him at jlroberson.org.
@jlr_1969
Podcast: Play in new window | Download